Tool or apparatus for bending metal fabric



Oct. 27 1925- 1,559,272 E. M. MONAGHAN ET AL TOOL OR APPARATUS FO RBENDING METAL FABRIC Filed June 6. 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 1 7 J J. l 1 J3 t fi (wwmgi%ww WM Oct. 27, 1925- v 1,559,272

. E. M. MONAGHAN ET AL @001. on nun/nus FOR BEnmNeuB'r-AL mmuc FiledJune 6. 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 WM @244 M Patented Oct. 27, 1925.

UNITED, [STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD MARTIN MONAGHAN AND RICHARD RIGBY, OF LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND, AS-SIGNORS TO THE BRITISH REINFORCED CONCRETE ENGINEERING COMPANY LIM-Iran, or MANCHESTER, ENGLAND.

TOOL OR APPARATUS FOR BENDINC: METAL FABRIC.

Application filed June 6,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, EDWARD MARTIN lvIoNAGI-IAN, of the city ofLiverpool, in the county of Lancaster, a subject of the King of GreatBritain and Ireland, and RICHARD RIGBY, of the city of Liverpool, in thecounty of Lancaster, England, a subject of the King of Great Britain andIreland, have jointly invented an Improved Tool or Apparatus for BendingMetal Fabric, for which we have made application for patent in GreatBritain and Ireland, No. 15,662, dated June 7th, 1921, of which thefollowing is a specification. I

This invention relates to the bending of metal fabric and particularlysuch as is used in building construction in the reinforcement ofconcrete and the invention will be described in detail in thisparticular application of it.

In reinforced concrete work and princi pally where slabs or floorportions extending between'and over beams are to be reinforced, thefabric customarily employed is made up of parallel longitudinal wiresspaced regularly apart (and some 25 to 30 in number) and united byregularly spaced transverse wires welded thereto. The desireddisposition of this fabric in the finished slab is such that over thebeams it is near the top of the slab and between the beams it is nearthe bottom of the slab and this involves a regular cranking or bendingof the fabric which as far as we are aware has hitherto provedimpracticable or has in volved slow and unreliable operative procedure.

Itis an important feature of the invention to overcome this difficultyand the invention provides for obtaining the desired resultwithcertainty with extraordinary celerity and by means of so simple acharacter and robust a form as to satisfy the peculiar requirements ofbuilding operations.

One feature of the invention is a metal fabric bending apparatuscomprising means (e. g. hooks passed between the strands) to enter intoengagement on a line transverse to the strands, with a plurality ofstrands of the fabric by movement (between said means and the fabric)having a component transverse to the general plane of the fabric, means(e. g. the edge of a plate) to engage the fabric at the same part of itswidth 1922. Serial No. 566,259.

line and from the same face of the fabric as that from which the firstmentioned means entered into engagement with the said strands, and means(e. g. a long handle) for causing the two aforementioned meansrespectively to exert oppositely directed pressures on the fabric tobend the portions of said strands between the lines aforesaid relativelyto portions of the strands'beyond the same.

Another feature of the invention is in the production ofreinforcedfconcrete the employment of an apparatus which at oneapplication of the apparatus to reinforcing fabric comprising parallelstrands of wire bends a plurality of the. strands by applying to eachstrand, simultaneously at points spaced apart along it, oppositelydirected forces transverse to the general plane of the fabric.

The above and other object and features of the invention will becomefully evident to those skilled in the arts in question from aconsideration of the following description with reference to theaccompanying drawings of two forms of hand tool according to theinvention.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1. is a diagram indicating generallythe problem presented in the case of that application of the inventionwhich is particularly under consideration.

Fig. 2. is a side, part sectional, elevation of a hand tool according tothe invention for bending the fabric in the manner required forreinforced work as indicated in Fig. 1.

Fig. 8. is a front elevation of the tool shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4:. is an inverted plan view of the tool, and I v Fig. 5. is adiagram illustrating the mode of operation of the tool.

Fig. 6 shows diagl'amn'iatically a modified form or tool according tothe invention.

The tools shown are intended to bend at a single operation seven of thestrands of the reinforcing fabric although the same may be designed, aswill be evident, to bend simultaneously any larger or smaller number ofthe wires. They are intended to bend the wires more or less as indicatedin Fig. 1 so that a gentle slope of say 30 or thereabouts connects theportion 3 ofthe wire which to be (between the bean'is 5, 5) near thebottom of the slab '4", with the portion 9 which is to lie over thebeams, near the upper surface of the slab.

Referring now to Figs. 2, 3 and s, the tool has a bed plate 11 from thefront edge of which depends a number of hook members 13 with bevelledportions 13*. Tl-iese may be formed by cutting portions of the plate 11,made in such a case of angle iron, or may be secured to or in the plate11 There is an eighth member or guide 15 which is not hookec The sevenopenings 16 between the hooks and between the guide and adjacent hookare spaced apart .t a spacing corresponding to that of the wires of thefabric but the openings are SHl'JEEtZHltially wider than the thicknessof the wires so as to facilitate the entry therein of the fabric evenwhen, as commonly occurs, wires of the fabric are somewhat distortetlaterally.

An extension plate 18 is secured underneath the bed plate by bolts 20secured to it (the plate 18) and clamping nuts 22 threaded on to thebolts, the latter passing through slots 24 in the bed plate so that theextension plate may be clamped in dii' terent positions to the bedplate. A long handle 26 is suitably secured rigidly to the bed plate andhas pivoted thereto at 28 a leg 30 which straddles an arcuate member 32provided with a series of holes 34; with any of which a thumb screw 36,passing through appro priate holes in the leg, may co-operate to lockthe leg in definite angular relationship to the handle.

The fabric having been spread out upon the bottom of the mould or formof temporary floor the workman lowers the tool upright upon the sectionto be bent and with the guide i5, which is longer (say by somethree-eighths of an inch) than the hooked i'ncmbers, between the last ofthe group of wires to be bent and the next adjacent wire which is notthen to be bent or has already been bent. He then slides the toollaterally over the surface of the fabric so as to move the guide towardssaid last wire of the group, and in this way the tool is, withoutspecial attention on his part, brought to a position in which the groupof wires will be opposite the openings 16 and the tool then drops homeon to the fabric with the respec ive wires between the hooked members.The extra length of the guide prevents excessive movement of the tool inthe direction referred to. The tool is now moved back in the oppositedirection to lining the wires behind the horizontal portions of the hookmembers 13 and the operation of engaging the tool with the group ofwires is complete. It will be evident that by reason of the provision ofthe guide 15 this operation can be easily and quickly performed. Theactual bending is then a mere matter of tipping the tool, with the edgeof the extension plate pressed down upon the fabric, until the free endof the leg 30 meets the bottom of the mould (see Fig. 5) the we-i 'ht ofthe fabric beyond the hooks, or, it may be, pressure applied (asindicated in 5 by the arrow), by the workman on the fabric just past thehooks completing the double bending.

This supplementary duty disappears if, as may be done when desired, twoworkmen each use a tool at the same time to form the opposite bends inthe fabric at each side of a beam location in the mould.

It will be evident from a consideration of 5 that the adjustment of theextension plate 18 relatively to the bed plate 11, which the slots 2&-allow of, determines the length of the inclined portion of the wire, i.e. the length AB, while the inclination at which the leg 30 is setrelatively to the handle 26 determines the inclination of the bend, i.c. the angle at D.

/Vhen the bending of one section is complete the fabric is released bytipping the tool back a little and performing the opposite movements tothose oy which the tool was threaded upon the fabric, the bevelledportion-s 13 of the hooks facilitating the unthreading. The tool maythen be moved laterally to the next section of the fabric and the wholewidth of it bent step by step in this way.

In Fig. 6 is indicated an addition to such a tool as has been described,which addition positively secures that both bends which to give the wireits cranked form shall be made by the tool and at the single operation.The handle 26* which is conveniently cranked as indicated is not rigidlysecured to the plate ll but is pivoted thereto as at 4-0. Projectingfrom it is a cam icce acting upon one arm a l of a lever pivoted at l6to the plate 11 and the other arm of which at its end has a cross bar 48rigidly securec to or in one therewith and extending along the row ofhooks from end to end and parallel thereto. A spring 50 secured to thehandle 26* and bearing on the arm 41 i normally holds the cam 42 down onthe plate ll. so as to bring the handle upright in relation to theplate, and holds the cross bar 4-8 elevated so as not to im petlethreading of the tool on to the wires. To the back of the handle issecured a spur piece adapted to limit the relative movement of thehandle and plate 11 about the pivot l-O. This piece 52 is adjust-ableheightwise of the handle, being slotted for the passage of clampingbolts 54L and havingteeth of sa 1 one eighth of an inch pitch toensimilar teeth on the handle which resist movement of the spur pieceheight-wise of the handle and so assist the clamping fabric resting onthe bottom of the mould,

causes relative movement of the plate 11 and handle 26 (until the spurpiece bears upon the plate 11) which moves the cam piece 42 along therear surface of the lever arm 44 thus camming the lever about its pivot,against the action of the spring 50, and lowering the cross bar 48forcibly upon the fabric to bend it beyond the hooks as indicated. Theadjustment of the spur piece on the handle determines the angle of thebend thus formed beyond the hooks, which for any given setting of thisspur piece the adjustment of the leg 80 relatively to the handledetermines, as already described, the angle of the other bend.

What we claim is 1. Apparatus for bending metal fabric comprising ahandle an adjustable plate on said handle, the rear edge of which isadapted to engage and bend a plurality of strands of the fabricand meanson said handle forward of the said adjustable plate, to engagethe'opposite side of the fabric, as set forth.

2. Apparatus for bending metal fabric comprising a handle, a bed plateon said handle, an adjustable extension plate on the bed plate, means onsaid bed plate to pass through and engage the opposite sides of aplurality of strands of the fabric along a line parallel to the rearedge of the adjustable plate, substantially as described.

I 3. Apparatus for bending metal fabric comprising a handle, a bed plateon said handle, means on said bed plate to engage a plurality of strandsof the fabric along a line parallel to the rear edge of the plate, anadjustable extension plate on the bed plate, and an adjustable leg tolimit the inclination of the bed-plate, substantially as described.

l. Apparatus for bending metal fabric comprising a manipulating handle,a bed plate on said handle, a plurality of hooks along one edge of thebed plate with the open ends towards one end, an adjustable extensionplate at the other edge of the bed plate and an adjustable stop to limitthe turning movement of the bed plate, substantially as described.

5. Apparatus for bending metal fabric comprising a handle on saidbedplate, a plurality of hooks along one edge of the bed plate, anadjustable extension plate at the other edge of the bed plate, a handleand means tolimit the turning movement of the handle about the extensionplate, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof they have signed their names to this specification.

EDWARD MARTIN MONAGHAN.

RICHARD RIGBY.

